


Getting to Know You

by CuriousDaydreamer604



Category: Original Work
Genre: A week to a few months, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, Getting to Know Each Other, Like each part takes place a certain amount of time apart, M/M, Maybe to a T but not above that, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriousDaydreamer604/pseuds/CuriousDaydreamer604
Summary: A series of moments between León and Hiroshi.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	Getting to Know You

**Author's Note:**

> Two posts within three days after nearly a year and three months of not posting anything? What are the odds?
> 
> Really, this is something I had in mind for a while, and I finally got around to making the outline a week ago. I'm really excited to keep working on this.
> 
> Thanks to my best friend, cakersss, for proofreading and motivating me to write this.
> 
> Also, a quick heads up: I don't live in the UK, but my characters do. If there is something I got wrong, I'm sorry.

Hiroshi was thirteen, and he had complicated feelings about his new school. 

He had been transferred to the school two terms into the year from a school that constantly made him feel miserable, so he was glad to leave it behind. Even so, he was sceptical of the new place at first. The way his dad talked about it made it sound too good to be true. Even after a couple of weeks, he didn't know what to think. He wasn't very familiar with the layout, so he had a bit of trouble getting around, but the teachers were friendly enough and really helpful. On top of that, the headmistress was a very nice and laid back woman who came at any kid who was being bigot or was bullying other students with a vengeance. At least if what he heard about her is to be believed.

All of that was well and good. However, Hiroshi still had to deal with other kids. Now, these kids were way better than the kids at his old school. Granted, his old school was full of kids who constantly made racist and homophobic jokes and teachers who didn't do crap about them, so the bar wasn't very high on that part. Still, these kids seemed really nice, so much so that Hiroshi was suspicious at first until he learned that, no, they weren't planning anything. The kids at his old school were just crappy human beings. 

Hiroshi still didn't really want to talk to any of them, however. He didn't want to become friends with someone, and then they revealed themselves to be a jerk. While most kids seemed to understand that he preferred to spend his time alone, some didn't. And Hiroshi could immediately name the principal offender. 

"Hey, Caden!" Well, speak of the devil. Hiroshi's muscles tensed as he looked over his shoulder to see a girl with dark skin and black curls running down the corridor after him. Before, he would try and get ahead of her to try and escape, but he knew from previous attempts that it wouldn't do anything. 

"Hey Lizzie," he said almost regrettably as the girl caught up and fell into his walking pace by his side.

"How was your morning?" she asked brightly, flashing him a huge smile. "Mine went fine, well, expert or my English class. I have Mrs Winter, you know, and she is just ridiculously strict and harsh! Her class is no fun at all! Do you have her?"

"No, I don't," Hiroshi answered, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "And my morning was fine, thanks." 

"Nothing interesting happened?" 

Hiroshi tried not to let out a sigh. "Nope. Nothing to report." The girl was in Year 9 like him, and she had been doing this ever since he started here, pestering him in the hall or in class, asking him how his day was, and inviting him to sit at lunch with her and her friends. He could tell she wasn't doing it out of malice, but her pushiness got kind of annoying after a while. It was like she thought she was doing some great thing by saving him from his loneliness. But he was prepared for this. He knew his best option was to just give her short answers until he could get away.

Lizzie just nodded, and Hiroshi was hoping it would end there, but of course, it didn't. "You have anyone to eat with? My offer's still open."

"No, thank you."

"Are you sure, because…"

"I'm sure," he said, maybe a little too harshly, and quickened his pace to try in an attempt to outrun the shorter teen, leaving her behind in the corridor. 

Of course, Hiroshi ate by himself, but he really didn't mind that much. Lots of kids ate alone, and he wasn't at the table by himself. There was another group of kids at the end of it. Granted, he didn’t talk to them, but still. They kept to themselves and talked during lunch and left Hiroshi alone to either think or to work through his sketchpad. Besides, the chatter of the dining area did make good background noise while he sketched. 

Today, though, he got stuck on a picture of the school's courtyard. So he just ate his lunch as quickly as he could so he could head there afterwards and continue it with a proper reference. While he ate, he let his mind turn off, the chatter of the other student's conversations becoming white noise in his brain. When he was done, he tucked his sketchbook under his arm, slipped his pencil pouch into the pocket of his blazer, got up, and threw his garbage away. 

On his way to the exit, he had to pass the table Lizzie sat at. Hiroshi would usually worry about her trying to talk to him again, but it seemed like he didn't have to worry about that today. Standing by the table, talking to Lizzie, was a boy with short brown hair that Hiroshi knows. Well, at least he thinks he knows. He looks like the kid he sits next to in English. What was his name again?

As he asked himself this, he walked by the table and unintentionally caught part of what the other boy was saying.

"I understand, but you have to understand that some people want to choose that on their own."

Huh. Weird. But Hiroshi didn't really care. The statement left his mind as soon as it entered, and he just left the dining hall and went out to the schoolyard. 

It was cloudy outside today, like most days in London, and the schoolyard wasn't as full as it usually was. If he had to guess, Hiroshi would say it's probably because he's out here earlier than usual. As he walked over towards the stone brick wall, he took his sketchbook back out from under his arm and opened it to the page he was working on earlier. He plopped down onto the ground in front of the wall, and if the stones it was made of were cold as he leaned against them, he couldn't tell through the fabric of his blazer. He propped up his sketchbook against his legs, got out a pencil, and got back to work trying to recreate the schoolyard.

It was these moments when he was drawing that Hiroshi was most at ease. Observing the world before him and trying to capture it on paper, the wind rustling leaves and conversations of other students fading away into the background. The sketch he was working on was about halfway finished by this point, with the shapes that made the schoolyard just waiting for colouring and shading. Hiroshi was only using his pencil for this sketch, communicating colour and shadows with different shades of grey. There was a lot of detail to add still. The rough texture of the stones that made up the wall surrounding the courtyard, the way the leaves interacted with each other in the breeze, the cracks in the pavement that students were currently standing, talking, and playing on. Part of him considered adding people to the picture, but he decided against it. For now, at least. He'd think about it again when the sketch was more complete. Right now, he just let himself get absorbed in his work.

"Hey, Caden?" Hiroshi tensed up as he was snapped out of his trance. He looked up from his sketchbook to see Lizzie standing by his feet wearing a sorrowful expression.

"What is it?" he asked, hoping his tone didn't come out annoyed. Lizzie's dark brown gaze faltered, and she looked down at her feet.

"I just want to apologise," she started, her tone slightly shaky. "I know that I kept bothering you a lot, but I thought since you were alone all the time, you would want someone to talk to. I tried to force that on you, and that wasn't right. You should choose who you talk to, not me. I'm sorry."

Lizzie looked back up at him, a sorry expression on her face. Hiroshi was silent for a moment, not quite sure how to respond to the apology. Lizzie had always come off as stubborn when she didn’t have other people to rein her in. After a moment thinking it over, he just said, "It's okay. You were just trying to help." 

At that, Lizzie furiously shook her head, refusing to look at him. "It's not, though. Even Hikari told me that I was bothering you before León did, and…."

"Really," Hiroshi said, cutting her off. Lizzie jerked her head up and met Hiroshi's gaze. "It's fine. I understand you weren't doing anything out of malice. Thank you for the apology, but what's important is you realised what you did. And, more importantly, to try not to do it anymore."

Lizzie stood there for a moment, gaze dropping down to look at her feet. Then she nodded. "Yeah. You're right." She chuckled slightly. "It's funny. León actually told me the same thing just now." She gave him a questioning look. "Do you know him?"

León. Right, that was his name. The boy sat next to him in English class, who sometimes struggled in literature. He gave her a considerate nod. "Yeah, you could say that."

Lizzie flashed him a smile. "Cool." She turned to walk away but stopped mid-step. "Oh! By the way, I should let you know, next period's about to start." Hiroshi internally groaned. Of course, he lost track of time. He didn't do it often, it only happened when he got to invested in something, but that just made it more frustrating when he did. 

"Thanks for letting me know." And with that, Lizzie ran back to the building. Hiroshi gathered up his things and made his own way back into the building. His mind went on autopilot as he went through the motions of getting ready to head to his next class.

During this, he thought about León. So he was the one who was talking to in the dining hall. Hirosi liked to observe people he found interesting, but León wasn't really someone who caught Hiroshi's attention much. Yeah, he sat next to him in English class, so he did know what he looked like. Short brown hair, dark green eyes, and freckles all across his face despite his brown skin. Gay or not, Hiroshi would admit León was, at least, aesthetically pleasing.

Still, he was actually kind of wary of León at first, thinking that he would be aggressively friendly like Lizzie. However, Hiroshi soon realised that he wasn't like that after León didn't really talk to him aside from the first few days, and Lizzie kept bombarding him. But that didn't mean he knew León that well, and by extension, if he was someone, the Hiroshi would want to talk to.

However, he thought with a smile, after this acting so diplomatic with Lizzie, Hiroshi was starting to consider it. He was at least going to have to pay León back some way. That's for sure.

-|-|-|-|-|-

It was about a month into the summer term, and León got sick. Well, technically, he got sick over the weekend, which was awful, and he just happened to miss school on Monday because of it. 

This was particularly bad because it just so happened that it was on Monday that his English class went over a literature unit about literary devices. The whole class was spent writing down and occasionally discussing all of the terms that the teacher thought to be important. The lesson also seems to have leaked into today's class. At the beginning of the period, the teacher handed out a worksheet (which was basically a fill-in-the-blank quiz with a numbered word bank) and instructed the class to use their notes to complete it.

"Remember," she said, "we are going to be having a discussion on these terms by the end of the week." Okay, that was fine. He would just borrow someone's notes, fill out the worksheet, and then make flashcards with the terms like he always did. Right?

But here's the thing. This tactic might usually work when there weren't that many terms. Heck, León only really made flashcards when he needed them, generally if there weren't that many terms to begin with. Ten to fifteen terms he would be okay with. More than twenty and he would find time to make flashcards since it was around that point where he needed the extra help to remember what words meant what. Flashcards took a while to make, but he usually got it done.

However, there was no way that León was ever going to find time for the  _ seventy-five _ terms listed in front of him.  _ Seventy-five _ , that was way too much! And some of these words looked so similar to each other. Allusion. Aphorism. Assonance. What the heck did these words even mean?!

León raised his hand to try and get the teacher's attention. He was going to have to work something out with her to get the notes he needed. But before she could take notice of him, there was a small thud of something being set down. León looked towards the right-hand corner of his desk and sitting there was...a stack of notecards?

León let his hand drop to pick up the stack. On the top was a blank card with the word  _ Allusion _ written in bold letters on the top. Well, it looked more typed, really. The letters were way too neat to have been written by hand. The cards must have been printed. He flipped the card over to see if there was anything written on the other side. In fact, there was something there, which León guessed to be the definition. Wait. Was this…? León picked thumbed through the stack, and sure enough, it seemed to be flashcards of all of the terms that he missed. 

But who did they belong to? Instinctively, León's gaze flicked up to the boy sitting next to him. Caden, the new kid who started he at the beginning of the term. He was busy working away at his own worksheet, his slightly-long black hair blocking his face from León's view. Was he the one who gave him the flashcards? He's the only one who could have. Everyone else sat too far away. The two didn't really talk much, so so wouldn't consider the two of them friends, per se. So why would he give León the cards?

León looked down at the huge worksheet he had to fill out, then looked back up at the clock. When he saw how much time he had, he cringed. He didn't have to worry about this. He had work to do. He would just talk to Caden and see if he could give the flashcards back after class. Besides, who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth?

León set to work, trying to fill out as much of the worksheet as possible. When the bell rang, he still had about a third of the sheet left to finish, but he would just do it later. As León began to gather up his things, other kids around him packed up their stuff and left the classroom, including Caden. Slightly panicking, León packed up as quickly as he could, nearly knocking the notecards off his desk. On an impulse, he took a rubber band out of his bag and wrapped it around the cards, keeping the stack from falling apart. By the time León had his stuff together, Caden was already getting closer to the door.

"Hey, Caden, wait up!" León called in an attempt to keep the other boy from leaving. His attempt seemed to be successful, as Caden stopped by the door and looked in León's direction. León hurriedly slugged his bag over his shoulder and fogged up to Caden, holding out the deck of flashcards. "Are these yours?"

"I made them," Caden explained. León drooped slightly. Not really an answer to his question. 

"No, I mean, like..do you want them back?" He instantly held out the deck to Caden.

Caden shook his head. "They're yours." With that, Caden turned around to leave the classroom. 

"Wait!" León stepped next to Caden, walking in pace next to the shorter boy down the corridor. "Did you make them for me?"

"Was that not clear?" Caden looked up at León through his fringe with a curious expression. León shook his head. 

"Not really."

"Sorry," Caden said, looking down towards the floor. 

"Don't apologise!" León insisted, making a reassuring gesture with his hands. "I was just confused."

Caden let out a low, understanding hum. "I noticed you were gone yesterday and figured you needed the notes. You usually spend time in class making flashcards, and since I usually make my own online, I figured I might as well print a set out for you." León blinked at Caden for a moment and then back down at the deck of flashcards. 

"That's...pretty observant." He looked at Caden, whose expression seemed to tense.  _ Oh crap. That probably sounded weird. _ "And really nice," he said calmly. "Thank you very much."

Caden's expression loosened, and the corner of his mouth twitched up in the barest hint of a smile. He let his head fall back slightly in a nonchalant manner and looked up at León, a cool expression on his face. "Consider it a thank you for talking with Lizzie." And with that, the boy turned down the corridor and started jogging towards his next class.

León's next class wasn't too far off from here, so he made his way to the classroom. When he entered, he saw that Ash hadn't arrived yet, so he sat down at their shared desk by himself. He was still holding the deck of flashcards, so he thumbed through it again, fidgeting with individual cards as he waited for his best friend to arrive.

There was….something about the cards, or maybe it was Caden's act of giving them to León. Caden had been a really quiet kid in his time at their school, not talking to anyone and not saying much in conversation. Because of this, most kids assumed that he just preferred to be left alone and didn't really care about other people. Both of those assumptions didn't sit right with León. He always got the impression that Caden was just the kind of person to observe things and who did their actions for others silently. 

The flashcards León was holding felt like proof, if not a confirmation of that initial impression. Caden just gave them to León because of the things he noticed about him, and León couldn't help but feel just a little bit closer to the other boy because of it. 

"Hey." León looked up to see a girl with a blonde ponytail sliding into the seat next to him. "What subject are those for?"

León looked back down at the flashcards and smiled. "Just English," he told Ash. He unzipped a pocket of his bag and slipped them in, before turning to look at her. "So, what did I miss yesterday?"

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos appreciated!


End file.
